The special
features of this itinerary are:

Describing
the
river as a downstream paddler sees it, north bank on
the left and mileages from the top. Cricklade is mile zero.

An
up-to-date listing of campsites within reach of the river. Tell me if I've
missed any.

An
iGreen take on the environment; tolls and canoes good,
government and motor boats bad.

0.0 miles -
Cricklade High Bridge

The
Thames is a navigation from Cricklade but fortunately powered boats cannot
easily get this far.Launch about ¼ mile below (GR 103939).From here to Inglesham Round House is shallow and weedy.Best in spring before the weeds grow too thick.

Bloomers Hole
footbridge 2000.

100 yards downstream.

Defensive Pill box
left bank. Many more to come.

The second
line of defence against a German invasion in 1941. Liberty still has to
be fought for. Bombers and transporters fly into RAF Brize Norton from
Kosovo, Afghanistan or Iraq most days. Look out for the high tailfins
and four tail engines of the VC10.

The VC10
reminds us of the harm of government intervention in commercial
decisions. Ministry planners assumed that the main VC10 customer would be
BOAC the nationalised predecessor to British Airways, and specified engines
sufficiently powerful to enable a full plane to take of from Nairobi airport
at 5,000 feet. This enabled a generation of British tourists to fly to
East Africa, but was wastefully overpowered for most commercial routes of the
time. Fortunately for the environment but less so for Vickers the manufacturers,
the world's airlines sensibly brought more economical Boeing 707's
instead. Only 54 VC10s were produced. Boeing was relatively
free from government interference and eventually sold 1,010 707s.

12.5 miles -
Buscot lock

Some
functionary from the Health and Safety branch of the Nanny State has been active
here. Enjoy the ankle level "Beware of mole holes" sign.
Look out for "Beware of low signs" next year!

June 2005
update. This sort of nonsense is likely to get worse. The Environment
Agency has recently opened its Thames Waterway Plan for consultation.
Click here for
details. As a taster, let me quote from "Area Aspiration O-934"
for Lechlade: "Encourage locals to walk more and therefore benefit their
health; encourage more people to visit and to spend in the Thames
corridor; spread the impact of visitors away from honeypot
areas." It's bad enough when the NHS tries to stop you smoking,
but why is the Environment Agency herding us towards the Thames and spreading us
evenly along it. Here's an environmental prediction that, in contrast to
Greenpeace's (Click here) really will
come true. Before I die (I'm 50 and my parents both lived to be 80, so
let's say in the next 30 years) publicly funded bodies will have covered the
entire length of the Thames Valley path in concrete or Tarmac.

13.75 miles - Eaton
footbridge.

Wood-clad steel.
The site of the last
Thames flash lock which disappeared in 1938. Houseboats are moored in the backwater.

14.25
miles - Kelmscot village and Plough Inn left.

Camping
and Caravanning Club certificated site. Field and tap for club
members only. If you use it join the C
& C club.

Kelmscott
Manor (click here)
was co-owned by William Morris the founder of the Arts & Crafts movement and
the pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti from 1871. It is a
lovely house. Click here to read
Morris's own ruminations on it.

Morris was
less lovely. He was an early example of the paternalist middle
class socialists who preach against the very modernism from which they
have benefited. He objected to railways, despite visiting Kelmscott Manor,
his second home, via the Great Western. He complained that poor rural people
did not
care about their environment, and founded the Commons
Preservation Society, a contradiction in terms if ever there was
one.

He
founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (click here)
in 1877. They still appear to believe that every building which intellectuals
think has artistic value should be preserved whether it can be put to any good
use or not. Read his manifesto for them here
together with some iGreen thoughts.

His
socialist campaigns in which he objects to advertising, and the division of
labour only demonstrated his ignorance of capitalism. His wallpaper company
allegedly only sold items which he himself could make! This
was 100 years after Adam Smith published the Wealth of Nations! Read two
of his pamphlets here (Against advertising,
News from Nowhere).

Were
he alive today he would be against GM technology and for the building of state subsidised wind farms everywhere except his own
back yard. He would surely oppose wallpaper, the main modern
development for which he is presently remembered.

Perhaps
I'm being harsh. After all he is dead. To redress the balance click here
to read a poem about Morris, by UA Fanthorpe.

16 miles -
Grafton lock

Otters have
recently returned to the river near here and we saw many kingfishers in 2003. The 2002
UK breeding bird survey reported that of the 105 species monitored since 1994,
29 had declined, but 52 had increased. Kingfishers had increased by more than
50 per cent.

17 miles Radcot
Bridge, 1787.

The
river divides above the bridge (main channel left, but the right channel is
easily navigable for canoes) so there are now two stone bridges at Radcot. The
Old Bridge
built in 1225 is now over the side stream. The
newer bridge over the main river, was built in 1787. Tricky for power
boats as the arch is
narrow and the bend blind.TheSwan
hotel lawn left is a good place to watch them struggle through the bridge.

The
old bridge was the site of a skirmish in 1387 between Robert de Vere, Earl of
Oxford, a supporter of Richard II, and the

There
is a caravan site on the north bank, owned by the snooty “Caravan
Club”, not to be confused with the cheap and cheerful "Camping and Caravanning"
club.The former will not let
non-members camp.But no matter,
the island is cheaper and more fun.

22.75 – Tenfoot
bridge

Constructed
entirely of wood.

24
miles - Shifford lock cut left.

24.75
miles - Footbridge.

Wood encased steel
on concrete piles

24.5 miles -
Shifford Lock

Just
below the lock the original course of the river enters right.You can paddle back up this original stream about half a mile to Duxford
ford (is that a tautology?), a lovely spot for a picnic. August
2006 - spoilt a little by rubbish. Let's all try to remove some.

34.5 miles –
Swinford Toll Bridge J
1777.

One
of only two current toll bridges on the non-tidal Thames. Whitchurch
is the other. The number has been
falling for hundreds of years, but tolls seem to be returning elsewhere at
last. Let us hope this is the nadir for the Thames.

The Wolvercote-Gostow circuit
may be an option here, but only for the brave.Ignore the Kings lock cut and continue on the main stream towards Kings
weir.About 100yds above the weir
follow the channel left.This
is a navigation for boats passing from the Thames to the Oxford canal.After about ½ mile a canal (Duke’s cut) leaves left to join the Oxford
canal.Ignore this and stay on the
main stream under the A34 to Wolvercote weir.Tim
O'Connor there is no safe portage option, just nettles, brambles and, at best, a
six foot seal launch into the pool directly below the weir. I am NOT
recommending this. There is a second gentler weir under the
bridge at Wolvercote which may be easier if you could reach it. If
you do get through paddle on down to rejoin the river just below Godstow lock,
and then drop me a note.

But
see the Oxford circuit, click here.
Robert Yeowell (Canoe Focus April 2006) says the portage is OK in winter and
spring.

37.5
miles - King’s Lock

38.25
miles – A34 Oxford bypass bridge 1961

Watch
the power boaters navigate this.The arches are narrow and low and it won’t be long
before you witness a near miss and some marital discord.Enjoy.The Trout Inn L.
overlooks the weir stream. Free
parking.

38.5 miles -
Godstow Lock

40 miles - Medley footbridge

Power
boaters hate it, but this wonderful bridge, with the lowest clearance below
Lechlade (7ft 6in), keeps the larger gin palaces off the upper reaches.

41 miles - Osney
Lock

41.25 miles - Osney railway bridges adjacent 1850 and 1887

41.5 miles - Road bridge

41.6 miles - Footbridge 1886

42 miles - Folly
Bridge 1827, carries the A4144

The
mile and a half to Iffley lock, initially with Christchuch meadow on the left,
is the main rowing and punting stretch. For a week in late May it is the
site of the college "bumping races". Every fine day the river is
full of lovers punting, and walkers and cyclists on the tow path.

Time
for a poem. Philip Larkin was an undergraduate in Oxford
where, by all accounts, he had difficulty getting laid. He wrote
High Windows (click here) many years later when he was librarian
in Hull and his sex life had picked up. By then he was keeping at least three mistresses.

Oxford
Youth Hostel allows camping but is two miles from the river. Jack Straws
Lane, Headington.OX3 ODW Tel 01865 762997

43 miles – Donnington Road bridge 1962.

Campsite
on left bank of river 50yds below the bridge.Tel Salter Brothers 01865 243421 office hours.Otherwise just pull up and camp.Rather
a basic town site.Don’t leave
valuables unattended.

Camping
also at 22nd
Oxford Sea Scouts Meadow Lane, Donnington Bridge Road,
Oxford OX4 4BJ Tel: 01865 778459. The site is just beside the river but
only available to scout and youth groups, and with pre-booking.

43.5
miles - Iffley lock

Vivien
Greene, Graham Greene’s widow who died in 2003, lived nearby in Grove
House, where she founded the Rotunda Museum of Antique Dolls Houses.
Elizabeth Jennings wrote a poem about the house. Click here
to read it. The museum is now closed.

43.75
miles - Isis Bridge A423 1960

44
miles - Kennington railway bridge 1923

Camping at Oxford Camping
International. All facilities. 1/2 mile up the Hinksey stream. This
enters the river right just above the railway bridge. 426
Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4XN Tel: 01865 246551

45
miles - Sandford Lock

47
miles - Radley College boathouse right

48.5
miles – Nuneham Railway Bridge, 1929

49.5
miles - Abingdon lock

50.5
miles – Abingdon Bridge, 1416

Privately
built by local merchants, John Brett, John Huchyns and Geoffrey
Barbour, with the aid of Sir Peter Besils of Besselsleigh, who supplied the
stone from his quarries. It is a beautiful bridge some hundreds of yards in
length, including the flood meadows. The main stream is spanned by six
arches. It was restored in 1927.

River
Ock enters right

51
miles - Abingdon marina right

51.5
miles Culham cut

52 miles - Culham cut footbridge

52.5
miles - Culham lock

The Culham Science Centre, part of the UK Atomic
Energy Authority and home to the Joint European Torus (JET) is just north of
the river.JET is a hole in the
ground containing a special particle accelerator (a Tokomak) designed to
create the conditions for fusion to occur safely.Fusion power is good.It is clean, releases no greenhouse gases and the fuel source, water,
is plentiful.So why is the government involved?

JET was set up in 1978 on the assumption that fusion
power would take 30 years to develop, and that the private sector was unlikely
to make the necessary investment.25
years of state funding later, usable fusion power is still 30 years away!
It is too soon to know if the millions of pounds (billions in today's money)
spent at Culham were well spent. If
they dissuaded the private sector from investing in fusion research, by
signaling that the government was doing the work already, they may be
among the worst investments ever made.Personally I doubt if global warming will do too much harm, but if it
does the years of waste at Culham should take some of the blame.

52.5 miles - Sutton bridge 1811

Sutton Courtney is
half a mile down the road right.

George Orwell
(1903-1950) anti-collectivist and author of Nineteen Eighty Four, Burmese
Days, The Road to Wigan Pier, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Homage to Catalonia,
Coming Up for Air, Inside the Whale and Down and out in Paris and London, is buried
in All Saints churchyard under his real name Eric Blair. The
Liberal Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith is buried in the same
churchyard.

53.6 miles - Appleford railway bridge 1929

54.75 miles - Clifton cut footbridge

55
miles - Clifton Lock

Paddle
back up the weir stream about half a mile to the Plough Inn at Long Wittenham.

The
Pendon Museum (click here)
of model railways and countryside scenes from the 1930's is located at the
upstream end of the village. Exactly how a museum should be - built
and run by volunteers, and paid for by donations and admission
charges.

The
cooling towers of Didcot power station dominate the long bend to Day's lock and
provide a healthy reminder that no-one would be able to enjoy this idyllic river
without the benefit of clean energy. The two gas-powered stations
provide 4000MW electricity capacity, available when demand is
highest. For comparison the largest wind farm in the UK at Carno in
Powys has 56 wind turbines and a total capacity of 34MW when the wind
blows. In practice, like most wind farms, Carno operates at about 30%
capacity because the wind does not blow at the right time. All 83 UK wind
farms connected to the national grid have a combined capacity of about 530MW
from about 850 wind turbines (click here
for details).

58 miles -
Day’s Lock

58.1
miles - Little Wittenham (Day’s) footbridge 1870

The blind corner
just below the bridge is another good spot to see cruiser drivers in nautical hats shout at their
wives and mistresses.

58.9 miles - The
river Thame joins left.

Above this point the river is often called
the Isis. From here on everyone agrees that we are canoeing the
Thames. It is a fairly easy paddle 1/2 mile upstream to Dorchester bridge
and the Roman town of Dorchester and its ruined 7th century Abbey.
Dorchester was once the cathedral city of Wessex and later of Mercia.

62 miles - Benson
Lock

Howberry Park left. Home of Jethro Tull (1674-1741), inventor of the
seed drill and author of The New Horse-Hoeing Husbandry (1731). Now home to the Institute of Hydrology.

Tull
was a key figure in the agricultural revolution. By increasing
productivity a larger population was fed, and
agricultural labourers were freed to work in the new cities of the industrial
revolution and eventually create our present day standard of living.
Although Tull faced considerable opposition in his lifetime, his techniques
spread rapidly. Many people alive today owe their very lives to the developments
he and his
colleagues pioneered.

His
immediate successors developed new chemical pesticides and
seed varieties by selective breeding, and today's researchers are improving seeds
yet further by genetic modification. Sadly they also face opposition.

73 miles -
Whitchurch Lock

A
wooden bridge was built here in about 1792. The present latticed iron bridge
designed by Joseph Morris was built by the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering
Company Ltd in 1902. Click here
for the bridge company website

Land
right in the meadow after the bridge. Public car park.

75.5 miles -
Mapledurham Lock

Purley
right.

77
miles - Poplar island followed by Appletree Eyot.

77.9
miles - St Mary's Island. River usually busy with rowing boats from here
to Caversham bridge.

Reading
rowing club is 150 yards above Caversham bridge on the right. Landing and
public car park.

82.25 miles -
Sonning Lock

This is canoeable, although at low water you may have to lift
over the entrance sill. After 1.5 miles it joins the river Loddon on
the right. Another mile leads back to the Thames just below Shiplake
Lock.

85.5 miles -
Shiplake Lock

85.75 miles - Shiplake Railway Bridge 1897

86 miles - River
bends left followed by island. Main channel left.

Take right channel
to enter Hennerton backwater which is canoeable. It re-enters the main river
after just over a mile.

91 miles -
Hambledon Lock

93.25
miles - Land left for Medmenham village, just before Medmenham Abbey.Site of disused ferry.0.5
mile to Dog and Badger.

Medmenham Abbey was founded by Cistercian monks in
1145. In the late 18th century it was owned by Sir Francis
Dashwood who decorated it in pornographic style, built an erotic garden, and hosted
parties for his friends, the “Hell Fire Club”.
It's now a geographic research station.

93.5
miles - Islands.Main channel left but
better canoeing right.

94
miles - Land at slipway right for Hurley Caravan and Camping ParkEstate
Office, Hurley Farm, Hurley, Berks SL6 5NE.Tel: 01628 823501A big site.Rather over regulated for most canoeists tastes but good facilities.They like you to book.

94.8 Hurley weir
left.

The
experts say this is the best. Click here
for The Thames Weir Project. Info on all canoeable Thames
weirs.

103.5 miles -
Boulter’s Lock

This
13-arch stone bridge was designed by Sir Robert Taylor(1714-1788) who also
designed part of the Bank of England in Threadneedle Street in
London. It replaced the original wooden bridge dating from
1298.

The
"temporary" is one of the ugliest bridges on the Thames.
Taxpayer funded of course. Compare it with any of the privately built toll
bridges or Brunel's railway bridges built by the private Great Western Railway
company.

127.25
miles - Sunbury lock cut bridge.

127.5 miles -
Sunbury Lock

129
miles - Platt's Eyot

129.2
miles - Westel-Thames canoe club and Bell Inn left. George Kenton's ferry.

130.5 miles -
Molesey Lock

130.75 miles
Hampton Court Bridge 1933

131
miles- Hampton Court Palace left, and the maze where Harris, one of the Three
Men in a Boat, got hopelessly lost along with 20 followers and a keeper.
River Mole enters right.